World Grain - August 2018 - 62

FEED QUARTERLY

Building a mill to make
the products you need
Using a block flow diagram shows how
the processes and steps are connected
by Fred Fairchild

This is the fourth in a series of articles on planning a new
or expanding an existing facility. In the February 2018 issue
of World Grain, we examined factors to be considered when
deciding where to build a new feed mill. In the April 2018 issue, we discussed the mix and amounts of products needed to
be produced by the facility. We determined initial and future
production rates needed to make the amount of feed needed in
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In the May 2018 issue, we introduced two generic product
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ing these formulas, we picked out the location or systems
where each ingredient was located to be added to the mix for a
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we calculated the amount and type of storage needed for each
ingredient and where that was located.
In this article, we will determine the steps needed to proGXFHWKHUHTXLUHGSURGXFWVDQGGHYHORSDEORFNÀRZRIKRZ
the processes and steps are connected. The products made include mash feed, pelleted feed, textured feed, processed whole
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(for textured products), batching, mixing, pelleting, texturing
and premixing systems.
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facturing step. Once all the required manufacturing steps are
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the steps are related.

grains, protein meals (soybean meal, etc.), wheat middlings,
distiller's grains, minerals and other large use ingredients that
are received in large size shipments and stored in large bins.
Liquids delivered in large quantities such as fat, molasses or
others are delivered in truck or rail car lots. Large tanks with
temperature control are needed for this storage. Most bulk
ready-to-use ingredients are stored in overhead working bins
above the batching system.
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are received in bagged form or totes. Even little-used liquids
may be received in liquid totes. All of these ingredients require physical handling and are kept in storage in a warehouse
setting before being used.
Raw Ingredient Pre-Processing: Whole grains and other
ingredients such as alfalfa pellets are normally ground into
small size particles before being sent to the overhead working
bins above the batching system. If textured feeds are made,
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for the formulation. Any facility using an ingredient that
needs to be processed before using must be equipped to do the
necessary processing.
Batching: Once all ingredients for the formulation of the
various products are in the proper form, they are placed in
overhead working bins above the batching system. The
amount of each ingredient for a given formula is metered into
the scale hopper and weighed to get the proper amount of each
ingredient for the formula. The micro-ingredients, except for
items to be hand-added to a formula, are individually weighed
up in a micro-system for delivery to the mixer. Once the dry
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MANUFACTURING STEPS
micro-scale system they are ready to be discharged into the
Receiving: Many different ingredients need to be received to mixer.
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Mixing: The ingredients dropped from the main scales are
62

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